Chapter 954
“He never takes it off,” Felix said.
“Then we take it from him,” Skye said.
“Plan B?” Liam’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Plan A is stealth,” Skye said. “Plan B is you.” She moved toward Victor Carter.
“Mr. Carter!” She beamed, stumbling slightly as though she’d had one glass too many. “Felix told me you were the strong one!”
Victor looked her over, his gaze moving slowly across the emerald dress. “And who is this?”
“Skye,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m admiring your jewelry.”
She leaned forward, her hand grazing his chest. Her fingers found the chain and hooked beneath it.
Victor’s hand shot out and locked around her wrist like a vice.
“You have fast hands, girl,” he growled, his eyes narrowing. “Too fast for a drunk.”
Skye’s heart slammed against her ribs. She hadn’t managed to unclasp it. She was caught.
𝗗𝗈w𝗇l𝗈𝗮𝘥 𝗣𝘋𝖥𝘴 𝗳𝗋𝖾е 𝗈𝗇 𝗀𝖺𝗹nо𝘷𝖾𝗅𝘴.со𝗺
“Let her go.” Liam materialized out of nowhere. The charm was gone. He looked lethal.
“Kensington,” Victor sneered. “I heard you were reactivating the Hayes fleet. Here to steal mine too?”
“I’m here for my wife,” Liam said smoothly. “She’s drunk.”
“She’s a thief,” Victor said. He rose to his feet. The music died. The room went silent.
“Felix!” Victor bellowed. “Did you bring these rats in here?”
Felix stepped forward, visibly nervous. “Victor — they have the Ledger. The Mastermind cut us out.”
“The Mastermind pays me in blood, not coin!” Victor roared. “Seize them!”
Twenty guards drew weapons.
“Now!” Skye shouted.
She didn’t pull away. She drove her stiletto heel into Victor’s foot and yanked the chain with both hands. The gold links snapped.
Skye scrambled back, clutching the chain and the heavy electronic key fob dangling from it. “I got it!”
Liam overturned the nearest table, sending champagne and caviar cascading across the floor. A makeshift barrier.
From the corner, Alistair opened fire and shot out the chandelier. It plummeted with a deafening crash, glass exploding in every direction. Chaos erupted.
“Go!” Liam seized Skye’s hand.
They ran — not toward the exit, but toward the kitchen, toward the basement. Felix led the way, kicking open the service door. They thundered down the stairs.
“Mom!” Parker’s voice crackled through the comms. “I’m detecting a localized signal jammer — I can’t hack the door remotely!”
“We don’t need a hack,” Skye panted, reaching the heavy steel door at the bottom. She slammed the stolen key fob against the reader.
Beep. Click.
The door hissed open.
Inside, a middle-aged woman was bound to a chair. Parker’s mother. She looked terrified but unharmed.
“Where is it?” Skye asked, sweeping the room.
“The safe,” Felix said, pointing to a panel on the wall. “Biometric. Victor’s print.”
“We don’t have Victor,” Alistair said, checking the hallway.
“But we have his brother,” Skye said.
Felix hesitated, then pressed his palm to the scanner. “Family override. Let’s hope he didn’t delete me.”
The light flashed red. Then green.
The safe popped open. Inside lay the parchment map fragment.
.
.